We had a great group last week with a few new faces. I hope y’all are enjoying Father Gabriel’s teachings and Orthodox Little Compline. This week please read Mark 2-4 and The Writings of the New Testament pages 162-64 “Sets of Three” and pages 170-173. One of the key points we discussed last week was Jesus’s authority, not ours. Mark tells us (through the demons) that Jesus is God, and as God, he speaks with authority. Jesus teaches with authority, not the scribes. Mark 1:22. Jesus commands the demons by his authority. Mark 1:27. Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. Mark 2:10. And Jesus has authority over the Law itself. Mark 2:28. But it is Jesus himself that has authority, not us. The people recognize that the scribes, those whose life was dedicated to the study, transcription, and explanation of the Scriptures, lacked the authority of Jesus. Throughout Mark, we will see that the insider and authoritative person – scribes, Pharisees, and even sometimes the disciples – are the ones that oppose Jesus the strongest for they seek comprehension and power whereas Jesus brings mystery and suffering and death (in this world). And it is these people that Mark holds out as a warning against smugness and self-assurance that we must avoid in our own lives.
As you read through Mark this weekend, try to identify with the disciples or the religious leaders and seek to understand Mark’s lesson for us through these characters.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is Spanish Callego. Discussion about 6:45. Episcopalian Compline at 8. Hope to see you here and please bring a friend.
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
1 Corinthians 15:24-25